


Safe & Sound

by NamelesslyNightlock



Series: Going Down Swinging [5]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Cuddles, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Feels, Fluff, Fluffy Ending, Loki (Marvel) Feels, Loki (Marvel) Gets a Hug, Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, M/M, Nightmares, Tony Stark Gets a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-10
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2020-02-29 11:11:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18777088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NamelesslyNightlock/pseuds/NamelesslyNightlock
Summary: Tony’s nightmares always ended in thrashing and screaming, but Loki’s dreams were silent. Usually, anyway.





	Safe & Sound

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt** — _"You're safe now."_

Tony knew what it was to have a nightmare.

He knew what it was to be stuck in the throes of your own mind, reeling with such horrible terror that it was impossible to breathe, impossible to _think_ , impossible to do anything other than feel the thundering of your heart in your ears and to taste the bile and the blood in your mouth. The need to run but not moving, the ache to speak but not able to utter a sound– the terrible paradox of the nightmare that never stopped until you were torn from sleep with a vicious and violent gasp.

Tony’s nightmares always ended in thrashing and screaming, in harsh kicks and attempted attacks until Loki was holding him into the mattress, keeping him still so that he couldn’t hurt himself, so that he could _feel_ the press of Loki’s body all around him, so that he knew where he was and that nothing could harm him. It was the only thing that could ever make him feel better, and he would always remember to thank Loki afterward with a press of his lips and whispered words that would always mean more than they said.

Of course, Loki never minded. He would always hold Tony afterwards, often pressing his hands over Tony’s and holding them to Tony’s chest, so that they could both feel the rise of his chest and the clear absence of a gaping hole.

But unlike Tony’s, Loki’s nightmares were silent.

Tony wondered if it had something to do with the way that Loki was raised, that terrible awful Aesir belief that to show emotion that way was a weakness that no warrior could afford. He tried to believe that was the case, because to think on the more likely possibility that it was a result of Loki trying to stay silent under conditions far more horrible, to not give his captors and torturers the satisfaction was so much worse.

The silence was hard, because it meant that Tony didn’t always know that Loki was in the grip of night terror, and he hated to think that Loki might be scared and alone while Tony was blissfully unaware. He hoped that it didn’t happen often though, and he did think that he was starting to get better at noticing them– because surely, _hopefully_ , Loki’s nightmares weren’t becoming more frequent?

It was a blessing in more ways than one that they often slept entwined. Both of them were insatiable mattress-hogs due to having spent their whole lives with overlarge beds to themselves, and it often resulted in them simply sleeping one atop the other, their limbs so tangled that it was hard to tell where one of them ended and the other began. The closeness gave Tony more of a chance, more of a likelihood that he would notice when a dark dream began.

While Loki’s first sign of one of Tony’s night terrors would be a kick in the gut, Tony would only know of Loki’s from the tensing of muscles, the tremble of skin, the quick gasps for breath that were still quiet, but too shallow and too fast to be peaceful.

It would pull him from his sleep and he would shift in whatever position they had found themselves in until he was _under_ Loki, so that Loki’s head was in his lap but so that they weren’t touching in any other way.

He had learned all too early on that Loki would not respond well to being held down, that he did not find comfort in the weight of Tony’s body upon his own– at least, not until he was fully aware.

So Tony’s fingers would be gentle as he threaded them through Loki’s hair, speaking in soft tones about anything and everything. He would lean down to press a kiss to Loki’s forehead, to his nose, to his lips, to any part of Loki’s skin that he could reach until Loki’s movements became more conscious, until he heard Loki’s gasp.

Upon waking, Loki didn’t thrash, and he didn’t kick, and he was a lot faster at recognising where he was than Tony ever managed to be.

The moment his eyes blinked open – or sometimes even before, with his eyes still closed and his breathing soft – Loki would curl in as close to Tony as he could, pressing his face against Tony’s skin and simply breathing him in while Tony held him tight so that he would not fall apart.

And when that wasn’t enough, there were days when Loki would caress Tony’s face, would brush his fingers over every curve and every wrinkle, the line of his goatee and the edge of his jaw. As if he were reassuring himself that Tony was still there, that he was still okay.

On those nights, Tony thought he could guess what Loki’s dreams might have been about. And on those nights, Tony would always make sure to press in closer, to curl in tighter, to have as much of their bodies touching as possible.

It was just how they worked, warding away each other’s fears and holding their hearts in their hands. And perhaps Tony should have expected that there was something else, something _more_. Perhaps, like everything else, he should have been able to guess that Loki’s nightmares could get a little worse.

That night, Tony had woken just as normal, but when he blinked open his eyes it was to find a shine of green, a bubble of energy. It wasn’t a dome, and it wasn’t very big– it was laid over the pair of them like a blanket, and when Tony reached up to touch it, it moved with him, keeping him covered.

Realising that only one thing could have caused this, Tony immediately turned his attention to his lover. And while he had half _expected_ to find Loki locked in the grips of a nightmare, he had certainly _not_ been expecting him to be thrashing.

It wasn’t the kind of thrashing that Tony knew he suffered from himself, but it was far more than normal for Loki, and certainly enough to be concerning. Loki’s lips were trembling like he was trying to speak, and his arms began to twitch at first before actually rising from the bed as if he were trying to reach out for something.

As Tony moved, the blanket of magic moved with him, clinging to his skin, making him feel warm and safe just as he would have with Loki’s arms around him.

But _Loki_ wasn’t feeling anything close to that, so Tony was quick to begin his usual ministrations– and it was harder than normal, because Loki was still wracked with horrible, terrible shudders, but he refused to stop giving comfort. And so he smoothed Loki’s hair, soothed him with words, touched a kiss to the corner of his mouth—

And then, just as Tony was leaning back again Loki’s whole body jerked, and he sat up straight with a cry. Tony only just managed to prevent their heads from cracking together by throwing himself back against the headboard.

Loki’s chest was heaving and his eyes were wild as he stared about the room, not seeming to even notice the green shine over them.

“Loki,” Tony said, his voice so very soft, and he made sure that he stayed so very still. But Loki’s gaze jerked straight to Tony, and when he saw him, he drew a breath with a sharp inhale.

“Anthony?” Loki gasped, reaching out and leaning in—

And Tony surged forward, wrapping arms tight around him and Loki melted into his embrace even as the tension refused to leave his body, shaking and trembling and pressing as close as he could.

“Shh, it’s okay,” Tony promised, rocking him back and forth. “You’re safe now, it’s all right. You’re safe with me.”

Loki’s whole body shuddered at that, and Tony feared that somehow, he had managed to make it worse.

But then Loki spoke, his words small and scared. “It was not _me_ that I was worried about.”

The words cut deep and hammered at Tony’s already aching heart. He pulled back slightly, needing to loosen Loki’s death-grip from around him as he did so, and then he coaxed Loki’s gaze up to his with a nudge of his nose along Loki’s cheek.

And when they were both _looking_ , with their arms looped around each other’s shoulders and Loki straddling Tony’s lap, with their gazes locked and their faces oh so very close– when they were both _there_ in that moment, Tony turned his earlier words around on their head.

“I’m here,” he said, twisting the reassurance until it was something different, and yet still all the same. “I’m safe, Loki, because I’m here with you.”

“We’re safe,” Loki whispered, the words so quiet that Tony could barely hear them. “We’re together.”

And as they held each other, as their eyes began to close and they fell back into a peaceful slumber with Loki’s magic still curled around them, Tony knew that they would be fine. The nightmares wouldn’t go away, but so long as they were together, they would be able to bear them.


End file.
